Compressore is no mere stomp boxâit's a state-of-the-art compression tool.

Markbass Compressore is a high-quality tube compressor pedal that features all the individual controls normally found on professional studio outboard compressors: gain, threshold, ratio, attack, release and volume. Not only designed for bass, this Markbass pedal can also be used with guitars or any acoustic or electric instruments, in either live or studio applications, thanks to its state-of-the-art component quality. The bass pedal's ECC 81 tube compresses your signal, evening out the sharp peaks of your playing in a natural, transparent way. At the same time, it also adds warmth and harmonics to your sound. Like all Markbass pedals, this one features "true bypass." So when the compressor is off, your signal goes directly from the input jack to the output jack without any degradation of audio quality.

While some compressor pedals offer individual control of nearly all compression parameters, the controls on most comp boxes adjust two simultaneously, and some only have a single "compression" knob. The Markbass Compressore features all the individual controls you would normally find on professional studio outboard compressors.

FEATURES

CONTROLS

Gain

Volume

On/Off switch

Clean (instrument input level control)

Threshold (input level at which the sound becomes compressed)

Ratio (how intense the compression is)

Attack (how quickly the sound is compressed)

Release (how quickly the sound decompresses)

REAR PANEL

Input jack

Output jack

Ground Lift

This bass pedal gives you full control of your compression. Order your Markbass Compressore today!

This is the first tube compressor PEDAL I've used, but I've used all types of studio rack compressors with tubes in the preamp stage or compression stage or both. The MarkBass Compressore is almost...Read complete review

This is the first tube compressor PEDAL I've used, but I've used all types of studio rack compressors with tubes in the preamp stage or compression stage or both. The MarkBass Compressore is almost exclusively bought by bassists but it can also be used for guitar, vocals, keys or anything else. People who are looking for tube type SVT/B15/Marshal SuperBass smokiness might be disappointed with the Compressore because it is a very clean sounding and ultra noise free compressor. The tube is there for compression, not to add warmth. While other pedal compressors may be smaller, lighter, run on 9 volts or only have two knobs I think the Compresore is absolutely the cleanest sounding compressor pedal I've ever used and it is worth the hassle and the expense. As with all tube gear it will eventually need a new tube, but I'm not so sure that the tube won't outlast the Asian power supply which I judge to be the weak link in the package.The MarkBass Compressore controls perform exactly like a high end studio rack compressor with adjustments for complete control of all compressor functions and it has a true bypass. The solid metal case is really rugged. It requires 12 volt DC but an AC adapter is supplied. I use a powered pedal board for my other pedals which has 9 volt power so I now have to run two power supply lines and keep up with two adapters. This pedal is big, being as large as some multi-function pedals. It is heavy. It also works extremely well. The 6 knopbs could be a bit daunting for someone who has no experience with compressors or does not fully grasp how they work. The good news is that it is actually hard to make this pedal sound awful. Once you get the knobs set where you like they stay put since they are recessed (like the old 70's Fender Blender pedal) and they have a bit of stiffness too only moving when you turn them on purpose. There are other pedals that have a tube, but all of them I've tried use the tube as a driver stage which feeds a compressor circuit while the MarkBass Compressore instead uses the tube to actually do the compression. The result is what is the most noise free and artifact free compressor pedal I've ever tried. While more complicated to use than my old Aphex Punch Factory the MarkBass is far quieter and certainly much better made with the metal jacks. (The plastic Aphex jacks always bugged me but I was otherwise pleased with the Aphex for bass applications.) The features I do miss from the Aphex pedal are the XLR direct out for PA or recording and Phantom Power via the XLR. Both those features seem to be things MarkBass could have incorporated but didn't. A good feature of the MarkBass pedal is that it handles varying input levels extremely well. When switching from a passive to active bass with a much hotter signal the MarkBass does not distort at all!Top notch quality for the pedal itself which would get a 10 but you also have the standard Chinese quality for the power supply which lowers the package to a 9.For the money this is an amazing compressor! They could easily have charged more for it.

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Broken?

After first plugging in and playing with this pedal upon its arrival, I failed to notice any real difference in tone. I figured maybe the fact that I was using my practice amp as...Read complete review

After first plugging in and playing with this pedal upon its arrival, I failed to notice any real difference in tone. I figured maybe the fact that I was using my practice amp as opposed to my full gig setup may have had something to do with that. So I finally set it up at a gig, excited to hear what it can do. The sound is muddy, distorted, and the signal is weaker. The tone was so bad I wonder if my particular unit was broken or something. Through all my tweaking I couldn't make it sound better. I have since returned the pedal and plan to never use it again. If you're looking for a good compression pedal, look elsewhere. Something cheaper will likely deliver better results.

Great compressor pedal. I have owned rack compressors, pedal (dual band and what not) compressors. Live, I like to use compression for improved sustain and punch. With the right settings, dynamics are never compromised. Mild compression is almost imperceivable, but it's there when you need to tame levels. There are other pedals with a complete array of controls as well, but this bad boy is quiet! I'm assuming the tube adds a bit of growl but I'm not sure if it was my settings. It's perfect for my needs. I mainly use the unit for weekly worhip gig. I have yet to play around with it, but I am a "set it & forget it" guy - so all in all, very satisfied.

After first plugging in and playing with this pedal upon its arrival, I failed to notice any real difference in tone. I figured maybe the fact that I was using my practice amp as opposed to my full gig setup may have had something to do with that. So I finally set it up at a gig, excited to hear what it can do. The sound is muddy, distorted, and the signal is weaker. The tone was so bad I wonder if my particular unit was broken or something. Through all my tweaking I couldn't make it sound better. I have since returned the pedal and plan to never use it again. If you're looking for a good compression pedal, look elsewhere. Something cheaper will likely deliver better results.

I have a solid state Aguilar AG 500 with 2-1X12 GS cabs that sometimes has too much headroom, and the tone is slightly sterile.

The Compressore allows me to adjust the headroom to my taste, and very slightly warm the tone.

Also, it helps with overall string balance.

It is built like a tank (a large one), and the knobs are made slightly hard to turn, making it hard to knock out of adjustment.

If there was one thing I wish were different, it would be to have the stock tube being able to warm the tone more than it does. A Forum blogger on "gearslutz" had good results by swapping the stock ECC81 JJ Tesla for a NOS Mullard cryo treated ECC81, so I may try that.

P.S. Markbass has a site on YouTube that is helpful in setting up the pedal to suit everyone's taste.

Bought the Markbass 2x10 combo and really liked the amp but REALLY missed the built in compression on the my old Eden. Since I already dropped 1100 on the amp I figured whats a bit more :). I am not the best or smoothest player and my lack of skill really stood out with how clean and clear the new amp was.

Awesome delivery in 3 days. Had practice same night as it came so hooked it up and started jamming. After about 1 hour of playing and adjusting I could not believe how this compressor made my P-bass and cheap 5 string sound.. it was amazing. It was like 2 new instruments.. really.. I mean it.

The way that the harmonics jump out now when playing chord tones and the ability to attack the strings based upon the needs of the song without being stupid loud makes this a must buy if you are like me and need a little help.

Only downside is the light on this thing will blind you in dim rooms and make it nearly impossible to see when adjusting..but once set I doubt you will need to adjust it much. Looks cool though and if you have it .. flaunt it. Little black tape will fix it up if needed.

This pedal has everything I need for compression plus it gives me a really nice tube sound. I run solid state amps because they handle the road well and are cheaper to replace.

The Gain knob lets me adjust how much tube warmth I want which basically acts as a tube pre-amp. I love the sound of my bass when I play through this. It reminds me of vintage tube amps I've gotten to try but couldn't afford.

The compression is extremely smooth with no artifacting that I can hear. I've used it live and as my compression for recording. It took me no time to figure out the controls to really dial in how I wanted to run my compression.

I like to set my Ratio to about 1 oclock to take the peaks off my low notes and slapping and set the threshold really low to allow dynamics on quiet stuff.

Some advice if you get this and it "ruins" your sound. When you have separate Ratio and threshold, you need your threshold lower than your ratio usually.

I can now vouch for the other reviews. This pedal ships with a power supply. The tube compression really warms the sound without coloration and there is no headroom noise that is usually present in cheaper compression pedals. I use this primarily for bass guitar and it is really easy to dial in some awesome tones. It can be used to really stabilize the dynamics when playing high on the fretboard as well as creating a nice growl when you really squash the low-end. The true bypass is a great feature that works as stated.

I've been using this pedal none stop since I got it. Such an amazing difference it's made for me. I mainly needed it to bring my tapping volume way up to match my finger style volume. I pluck quite aggressively and needed a powerful compressor to help with that. The only thing I am unhappy with is that they did not include value indicators around the knobs. I would really like to know what ratio I'm actually using, or the release time in ms. but mostly the ratio. Other then that, everything has worked just as expected.